World Source Rock Potential through Geological Time: A Function of Basin Restriction, Nutrient Level, Sedimentation Rate, and Sea-Level Rise*

Transcription

1 World Source Rock Potential through Geological Time: A Function of Basin Restriction, Nutrient Level, Sedimentation Rate, and Sea-Level Rise* Christopher G. St. C. Kendall 1, Jeffrey Chiarenzelli 2, and Hassan S. Hassan 1 Search and Discovery Article #40472 (2009) Posted November 30, 2009 *Adapted from oral presentation at AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 7-10, 2009 Please refer to companion article, The Giant Oil Field Evaporite Association: A Function of the Wilson Cycle, Climate, Basin Position and Sea Level, Search and Discovery Article #40471 (2009). 1 Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (kendall@sc.edu) 2 Geology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY. Abstract The world's source rocks include black shale and carbonates, and these large accumulations of organic matter and petroleum have an irregular temporal beat. The higher concentrations of organic matter are tied to sporadic super-plumes, plate configurations, climate, east coast / west coast ocean circulation, monsoons, allochthonous vs. autochthonous carbon, preservation mechanisms, and other phenomena. Most of the world's largest oil fields are restricted to areas along the southern margin of the Tethys, where specific areas are sweet and others not so productive! We argue that though 60% of the globe's (preserved) oil deposits are associated with super-plume timing; the explanation for its (preserved) oil potential is also controlled by a combination of an enveloping continental rain shadow, lack of clastic input, and organic production fostering concentrations of organic matter in the geological section from the Precambrian through the Phanerozoic, particularly the Mesozoic, This is principally true of the lee shore of Pangea and the resulting Middle Eastern Giant Fields. Here accumulation of organic-rich sediments appears tied to marine transgressions with shelf-margin flooding as one of the major factors controlling accumulations of organic-rich sediment. Evidence for this relationship is recorded in the Cretaceous section of the southern Mediterranean margin and the Eastern Arabian shelf. The Silurian section of northern Gondwanaland records a glacial ice-cap melt, and a major transgression occurred during the Early Silurian, resulting in organic-rich sediments represented by the Tanezzuft Shale of Libya, the Mudawwara Formation of Jordan, and the Qusaiba Member of Saudi Arabia and the Akkas Formation of Iraq. In the Precambrian the Shunga Event ~2.0 Ga also records accumulation of vast quantities of organic carbon preserved in organic-rich black shale source rocks. Details of this accumulation of petroleum are poorly defined but appear tied to plume magmatism and/or Copyright AAPG. Serial rights given by author. For all other rights contact author directly.

2 volcanism plus interlayered volcanic rocks that may have played a role in preservation. The Shunga Event occurred during the dispersal of continents rather than the closure of oceans associated with the Mesozoic Middle Eastern oil reserves. This highlights a major requirement for accumulation and preservation of organic matter through time as the presence of a restricted basin, rich in nutrients, exposed to rapid sedimentation during times of transgression (relative sea-level rise). References Abbott, D.H. and A.E. Isley, 2002, The intensity, occurrence, and duration of superplume events and eras over geological time: Journal of Geodynamics, v. 34/2, p Alsharhan, A.S. and A.E.M. Nairn, 1997, Sedimentary basins and petroleum geology of the Middle East: Elsevier, 942 p. Fox, J.E. and T.S. Ahlbrandt, 2002, Petroleum Geology and Total Petroleum Systems of the Widyan Basin and Interior Platform of Saudi Arabia and Iraq: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, Report # B, Kendall, C.G.St.C., 1969, An environmental re interpretation of the Permian evaporite/carbonate shelf sediments of the Guadalupe Mountains: GSA Bulletin, v. 80, p Melezhik,V.A., A.E. Fallick, M.M. Filippov, and O. Larsen, 1999, Karelian shungite; an indication of 2.0-Ga-old metamorphosed oilshale and generation of petroleum; geology, lithology and geochemistry: Earth Science Reviews, v. 47/1-2, p Rees, P.M., A.M. Ziegler, and P.J. Valdes, 2000, Jurassic phytogeography and climates; new data and model comparisons, in Warm climates in Earth history, Huber, B.T., K.G. MacLeod, and S.L. Wing, (eds.), p Scotese, C.R., , PALEOMAP Project: Web accessed 28 October Ulmishek,G.F. and H.D. Klemme, 1990, in Depositional controls, distribution, and effectiveness of world's petroleum source rocks: U S Geological Survey Bulletin, Report # B, 1931.

3 World World Source Rock Potential Through Geological Time a function of Basin Restriction, Nutrient Level, Sedimentation Rate & Sea-level Rise CHRISTOPHER G. ST.C. KENDALL 1, JEFFREY CHIARENZELLI 2, & HASSAN S. HASSAN 1 1-University of S. Carolina 2-St. Lawrence University

4 Acknowledgments We extend our thanks & appreciation to: University of South Carolina St. Lawrence University for making the study reported in this presentation possible

5 Summary & Outline Restricted Basin Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Marine Rocks Transgression Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Plate Climate Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Extension, (Rain Shadow) Basin Phase (extension, Convergence compression, or barred) Low Sediment or Barred Middle East North Africa Super Precambrian Continents Plume Summary & Conclusions Nutrient

6 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

7 Era PALEOZOIC MESOZOIC CENOZOIC PRECAM BRIAN World's Source Rocks & Reservoirs World wide stratigraphic distribution of major source rocks Tertiary Period Quaternary Pliocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Carboniferous Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian U Proterozoic 10% 20% 30% Aptian-Turonian 29% Lower Cretaceous 2.6% Upper Jurassic 25% Upper Tertiary 12.5% U Cretaceous Lw Tertiary 2.8% M Jurassic to U Permian 1.2 % Penn.-U Permian 8% M-U Miss. 0.4% U Devonian - U Miss. 8% L - M Devonian 0.3 % Silurian 9% Cambro-Ordovician 1 % U Proterozoic 0.2 % Oil Gas Era PALEOZOIC MESOZOIC CENOZOIC PRECAM BRIAN Stratigraphic distribution of the major reservoir rocks world wide Tertiary Period Quaternary Pliocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic Permian Carboniferous Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian U Proterozoic 10% 20% 30% 7.6% 10 % 11% 14.2% 22.3% 20.5% (Modified from Ulmashek and Klemme, 1990)

8 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

9 Basin Restriction & Anoxia Enable higher concentrations organic carbon: Allocthonous Autothonous Preserved in: Black (Anoxic) Shale (Anoxic) Carbonates (Kendall Photo) Devonian Ohio Shale I 64 Kty

10 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

11 Climate and Source Rock Potential

12 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

13 Transgressive Beat To Mesozoic & Tertiary Source Rocks

14 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

15 Super-plume plume Forcing of Organic production Very fast Seafloor spreading Enhanced organic production of oceans from massive amounts of CO 2 from oceanic lava flows Produce oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) & super- greenhouse events in Mesozoic Organic matter preserved by anoxia on sea floor with accumulation of organic rich sediments

16 Plumes : A Nutrient Beat! Phanerozoic! Super Plumes & Time (Abbot & Isley 2002)

17 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

18 isolated linear belt of interior drainage restricted Break Up - Mesozoic of Northern Atlantic entrances to sea SWEET SPOT! regional drainage away from margin juxtaposed source, seal & reservoir arid tropics air system wide envelope of surrounding continents

19 Examples of Organic rich rocks at Break Up Margins Mesozoic of Northern Gulf of Mexico Mesozoic of North & South Atlantic margins Mesozoic of Yemen rift belt Mesozoic & Tertiary of Eritrea East African Rift Dead Sea

20 Collision Margin Restricted Basin regional drainage into basin restricted entrance to sea isolated linear belt of interior drainage arid tropics air system SWEET SPOT! juxtaposed source seal & reservoir wide envelope of surrounding continents wide envelope of surrounding continents

21 Examples of Organic rich rocks at Collision Margins Current Arabian Gulf & underlying Late Mesozoic to Tertiary Silurian of Michigan Basin & Western New York State Devonian of Western Canada & NW USA Permian of New Mexico & West Texas Permian of Zechstein Basin Mesozoic to Tertiary of southern South America Tertiary of Mediterranean Mesozoic & Tertiary in final phases of Tethys Sea Mesozoic & Tertiary in final phases of Tethys Sea

22 Restricted Basin Settings

23 Example of Barred Basin Mesozoic - Arabian Gulf Upper Jurassic Saudi Arabia Kuwait, Iran & UAE restricted entrance SWEET SPOT! to sea arid tropical air system juxtaposed source seal & reservoir structural & depositional barrier over Hercynian horst blocks wide shadow from adjacent continents

24 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

25 Location of Oil & Gas Tertiary Tertiary Tertiary Fields of Arabian Gulf - Reservoirs Jurassic Jurassic Jurassic { Cretaceous Cretaceous Cretaceous Most are carbonate plays beneath evaporite seals in in restricted basins juxtaposing source, seal and reservoirs are Younger Paleozoic to East

26 Restricted Basins Isolated by Build Up Barriers Gotnia Basin South South Arabian Arabian Basin Basin Organic Rich Fill Arabian Basin Arabian Gulf Jurassic After Fox & Albrandt,2002

27 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

28 North African Source Rocks Regional Upper Cretaceous (Senonian) Petroleum Source in argillaceous limestones of North Africa Lower Paleozoic of North Africa proven and prolific plays eg: Tanezzuft Shale of Libya

29 Two major source rocks distribution around Mediterranean Modified from varies sources

30 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

31 Precambrian Oil? Precambrian play of North Africa is still immature & deserves more investigation quote from Jonathon Craig - ENI Large autochthonous accumulations of organic matter rare in Precambrian rocks Occurs in Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rocks as coal-like like material Derived from Precambrian oil? Potential matches younger oil plays?

32 World Neoproterozoic Petroleum USA Nonesuch Michigan Systems Murzuq Basin SW Libya Volga Ural Province Potwar Basin Lena-Tunguske Province, Siberia Tindouf Basin Morocco, Algeria Ahnet Basin Algeria Taoudenni Basin Mauritania, Mali, Algeria Sirte, Cyrenaica Basin, Libya Kufra Basin SW Libya South Punjab (Bikner-Nagaur) Basin, Pakistan - India South Oman Salt Basin Argentina Bolivia, & Paraguay Amadeus, Officer & McArthur Basin Proven Potential After Jonathon Craig - ENI

33 World Record Holder Karelian Shungites Paleoproterozoic ~ 2.0 Ga, NW Russia 600 m thick Upper Zaonezhskaya Formation C org up to 98%; averages 25% over 9000 km 2 along narrow rifted margin Include coal-like like seams of layered shungite, cross-cutting cutting diapirs & veins of remobilized liquid petroleum Interlayered with mafic volcanics

34 Karelian Shungites V.A. Melezhik et al. 1999

35 Significant Source Rocks through Time Basin Restriction's Impact on Source Rocks Climate (Rain Shadow & Green House versus Ice House) Transgressions Super-plumes plumes (Nutrients) Basin Phase (extension, compression, or barred) Middle East North Africa Precambrian Continents Summary & Conclusions Outline

36 World's Source Rocks Contain higher concentrations of allocthonous vs. autothonous organic carbon preserved in: Black (Anoxic) Shale (Anoxic) Carbonates Have irregular temporal beat driven by Basin restriction Continental plate configuration Initial extension Final collision Structural barriers &/or buildup barriers Climatic response Rain shadow East coast/west coast ocean circulation Monsoons World wide transgressions & restricted basins Sporadic super-plumes Most of world's largest oil fields restricted to southern Tethyan margin

37 Source Rock Potential Low rainfall & low siliciclastic influx favor lower levels of oxygen & elevated salinities, & high organic productivity: Products include: Algal Cyano-bacterial & phyto plankton bloom Limited infauna 90% occur in same basin phase 80% occur in same super-sequence sequence

38 World's Source Rocks Principal Oil Provinces matching this paradigm Mesozoic lee shore of Pangea Eastern Arabian shelf Giant Fields Southern Mediterranean margin Early Silurian section of northern Gondwanaland (ice cap melt, & transgression) Tanezzuft Shale of Libya

39 World's Source Rocks Precambrian Continents Precambrian Shunga Event ~2.0 Ga Rich in organic carbon Plume caused magmatism &/or volcanism Inter-layered volcanic rocks

40 Conclusions Now for a few barrels of oil!

41 Lecture Ends!!

42 Source Rock Conditions & Impact on Play Elements Basin restriction juxtaposes: Source Rocks Source and Reservoir (90% same basin phase; >80% same super-sequence) sequence) 75% Source rocks = Carbonates & Silici-clastic clastic Source Rocks not Necessary Low Rain Fall & Low Siliciclastic Influx Algae & Bacteria Proliferate; limited Infauna Reservoir Rocks Carbonates Clastics Seal Rocks Reservoir and Seal Effective Regional Seals formed by Evaporites Shales Dense Limestones Requisite Conditions Restriction & Aridity Abu Dhabi Arid Carbonate Coastline Photo courtesy of NASA

43 Plate Phase & Restricted Basins break up collision lee of barrier arid setting after warren, 2009

44 Organic rich source rock generation at break up of continental plates Isolated linear belts of interior drainage. Linear belts connected by restricted entrance to the sea. Regional drainage tends to flow away from break up margin Air system of the arid tropics Wide envelope of surrounding continents Mesozoic of Northern Atlantic

45 World's Source Rocks Particularly in Mesozoic but into rest of Phanerozoic section & even Precambrian. Most associated with: Restricted basins rich in nutrients fostering high organic matter productivity Lack of clastic or carbonate input Extensional, & compressional plate boundaries, &/or barred basins Enveloping continental rain shadow Marine transgressions Globe's unexploited & preserved oil deposits associated with timing of super-plumes? plumes?

46 Precambrian Basins with Oil potential Basins with autochthonous organic material Michigan - Tyler Formation / Michigamme Slate (1.82 Ga) S.W. Greenland Ketilidian (>1.8 Ga) Australia McArthur Basin ( Ga) Gabon Franceville Series Oklo (~2.1 Ga) Ontario Huronian Supergroup( Ga) Labrador Mugford Group (>1.97 Ga)